Cabinet door construction



Oct. 23, 1951 M. A. GERSTEN CABINET DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed July 24, 1948 Patented Oct. 23, 1951 UNITE D STAT S PAT E NT F F P 2,572,717-

CABINET DOOR CONSTRUCTION. Mortimer A; Ger sten, New York, N. Y. Applicationduly z i l948, Serial 'No..40,489.

1.. The present invention relates to cabinetsand the like, used for the storage of clothing, linens etc., and more particularly to the type made of wood-trimmed paper board, fibre board and similar materials, various embodiments of which are: manufactured l-:nockdovvn;v but: easyj' to. ,assemble. The cabinets herein concerned with; are of the kind which have one or more swingable doors.

These cabinets are made without the precision of fit as is mandatory in fine furniture, because they are of necessity a reasonably cheap structure where even if a single wood slat could be omitted, it would be of great advantage because of the small profit margin these goods must be sold at. Further it is desirable that the doors when closed, shall as far as is possible, keep moths and dust from entering the cabinet. Heretofore, in manufactures of this type, fairly good closure was obtained at the top, bottom and handle edges of the doors, but an objectionable open slit remained usually along the hinge edge of each door. Of course, better fit and avoidance of such slits could be attained by recessing the seats for the hinges and use of skill in door mounting. Such practice here would be prohibitive because of the cost factor.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a novel and improved construction which eliminates said open slit condition at the hinge line of the closed door.

Another object hereof is to provide a novel and improved construction of the character mentioned which eliminates said open slit condition and dispenses with certain of the door wood trim, thereby effecting a saving in the cost of manufacture.

A further obi ect hereof is to provide a novel and im roved construction of the nature set forth, which is easy to make, which maintains the sturdiness of the door paper board panel using a minimum of wood trim, and which is efficient in carrying out the purposes for which it is designed.

Other obiects and advantages will become apparent as this disclosure proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet embodying the teachings of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a section taken at lines 22 in Fig. 1, showing the relation of parts when the door is open.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the door closed.

2 Claims. (Cl. $12-$29") Fig. 4 is a similar view showing'the old prac'- tice.

In the drawings; the numeral [5 designates a cabinet, which essentially is a box structure having apaper-board body I6, trimmed with wood slatsaround its top antibody, as at and I8, or

some similar structure in other manner woodtrimmedasis well known in the art. "Thebody has a wood' stile re mounted on-its front, to carry the hinges 20 for a door 2| of paper-board panel with a vertical wood slat 22 mounted along its handle-edge. It is to be noted that the hingeedge of the door is free of wood trim.

In stile [9, along its side which is nearest the hinge-edge of the door 2|, is a flared longitudinal groove 23, in which the door panel at hinge-edge resides when said door is closed, and preferably is pinched at 24, and in good surface contact at 25, even if said door panel is caused to bend slightly in region A to accomplish this. Said door panel 2|, being somewhat resilient, makes such bending possible. The hinge leaf 2|] secured on the door, is suitably bent in form so that the door panel be positioned as shown. The groove 23, is so positioned and dimensioned that it permits door opening and closing. The hing line is of course inward of hinge-edge and slightly towards handle-edge of the door. If desired, the stile [9 may be made without portion B, in which instance when the door is closed, the door panel will contact only surface 25. In either construction of stile, when the door is closed, no dust or moths could enter at the hinge-edge of the door, as was possible in the old construction as illustrated in Fig. 4, Where the numeral 27 denotes the open slit existing between the stile 28 fixed on cabinet body 29 and the slat 30 along the hinge-edge of the door panel. The numeral 32 indicates the hinge.

The necessity of a wood slat mounted along the hinge-edge of the door panel has been eliminated, for it is to be noted that when the door is closed, the engagement thereof within groove 23 of stile l9, acts to maintain the door firm and rigid therealong, just as if said stile were a slat secured along the hinge-edge of said door panel. In fact, when the door is closed, such is the appearance.

Thus, as set forth, I have provided a cabinet which gives greater safety against moths and dust than was heretofore attained in this type of manufacture and have decreased the cost of production without change in appearance.

This invention is capable of numerous forms and various applications without departing from the essential features herein disclosed. It is therefore intended and desired that the embodiments herein be deemed illustrative and not restrictive and that the patent shall cover all patentable novelty herein set forth; reference being had to the following claims rather than to the specific description herein to indicate the scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In an article of the character described, a door of material of the paper-board type and a stile; said door being hingedly mounted on the stile about an axis along and a little inward of an edge of the door; the stile presenting a longitudinal surface behind its front surface; the hinge axis being at a slightly lesser distance from the front surface of the door than from the mentioned longitudinal surface on the stile; the front stile; said door being hingedly mounted on the stile about an axis along and a little inward from an edge of the door; said stile being provided with a groove along its side edge adjacent the hingededge of the door; the hinge axis being at a slightly lesser distance from the front surface of the door than from the wall of the groove which is nearest the front surface of the stile; the door, along its said hinged-edge being positioned within said groovewhen the door is closed and withdraws from said groove when the door is opened, and when the door is being closed, its hingededge front surface contacts the Wall of the groove nearest the front surface of the stile and is flexed thereby along a longitudinal line upon being fully closed, andwhen fully closed, said door at its hinged-edge is in contact with the opposite longitudinal walls of said groove.

MORTIIVIE'R. A. GERSTEN.

I REFERENCES CITED -UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,231,069 Schaifert June 26, 191'! 1,873,522 Abbott Aug. 23, 1932 

